I didn't mind your post of March 19th. Heck I was just thinking More chocolate for me!! I think I felt the same way as you. It was a huge dissapointment. Hopefully we all learn from this experience especially Nestle.

I often have to remind myself that this is a world primarily based on money and finance, and it's pretty rare that companies do things unless there is something ($$$) in it for them. I personally don't think Dare or Chapman's would be making allergy-friendly products if they didn't think there was a market for it. If their product doesn't sell, they don't make money. If they don't make money, they could go out of business. It's a harsh reality.

Pam--I actually liked reading your post---I too get emotionally attached to food (I think everyone does, really). I kind of felt the same way about El Peto after finding out that their "tapioca starch" was actually muffin mix--with soy. At first I was upset because I really trusted the company but felt that I couldn't any more---but now I've decided just to go ahead and continue to buy their products.

Catherine - before my DD's pa was diagnosed I was a huge PB fan. Couldn't get enough of it - especially when mixed with chocolate. Now when I see people with peanuts/peanut product/pb I think it's evil and look at it the same way - like it's the most disgusting thing.

I'm also horrified when I go to the grocery store and see a McDonald's bag in the cart. All I think about is sesame contamination. Or when I see kids eating the free cookies in the cart - I recently realised that I was looking at them with disgust too.

If I see someone eating peanuts from afar, I'm fine. But I sometimes feel slightly unwell if I'm close enough to smell it. Sometimes I have to suppress the gag reflex. Peanuts smell really, really bad to me. There's a peanut butter making machine at Whole Foods---I hadn't noticed it before and one day it was in use. Usually I *know* where there are peanuts *right away* from the smell but oddly, this time I initially didn't know *what* smelled so bad. Seriously, it smelled (to me) like there was someone in the vicinity who hadn't showered for a long, long time. I was somewhat surprised to round the corner and see the peanut machine (which I hadn't previously noticed) in use!

Several weeks ago I was in the Gerstein library at U of T printing stuff off from the catalogue and I knew that I smelled peanuts. I didn't think that anyone would be eating peanuts in that area (within sight of the reference desk--librarians don't take kindly to people eating in libraries!) When I exited the library, I saw someone sitting on this block (I would say bench, but it is more of a block) eating something that looked like it had nuts in it--that was the source of the smell. The library doors were open, and the printer isn't all that far from the entrance, but, still, I was surprised that I would have smelled the peanuts that far off.

Years ago, my father used to sneak nuts into the house in spite of the household ban. He would eat them when everyone else was gone and stash them in the back of his filing cabinet. I know this because he got caught on more than one occasion (and once we found a nut on the floor in his study). It never ceased to surprise him that I would just walk into the house and immediately know that he was eating nuts (from the smell wafting from downstairs). (Thankfully, my father now agrees that the house should be nut free....not that I live there anymore.)

Interestingly, I don't feel the same way about any other allergy. Eggs don't smell awful to me. I don't like the taste of soy, but since soy milk does not have a strong odour I don't mind if people are drinking soy milk or eating tofu around me.

Does anyone else feel a bit sick when you see other people eating peanuts or peanut butter? It feels like looking at something really distasteful, as if the person is eating something really gross. Is it just me?

It's funny that you mention it...just recently I started noticing my reactions (not allergic) when I see others eating peanut/nut products - I get very anxious and on the defensive, it's almost like nuts have turned into my enemy. I'm sure my facial expressions tell a tale (people probably think I'm crazy...). I used to LOVE eating nuts and now....I can't so much as injest a single peanut (on the rare occasion that I'm away from my son for a weekend). I know it doesn't make sense but I almost feel like "it's us against the nuts" - I feel too guilty. Maybe it's because I know my son can't have them....I don't know. It's like we've become so acutely aware of nuts and their potential to do harm - they've stopped being just a food item for me. I think when something alters your life so drastically (like living with life threatening food allergies does - 24 / 7), in that split second moment, you assume others should know your experience and know how deceptively evil those nuts that they are eating really are. Then I realize, they used to be me, before living with food allergies.

I have this feeling too!!! I used to love peanuts, now when I see them I feel sick (just a little) and my heart rate goes up (just a little). I almost trained myself to have this reaction to them. When Aaron was a toddler, I was so scared all the time, I forced myself to think peanuts=death so I would be in a hypervigilent state all the time. When all the other moms were sitting at the playground chatting, I was scouring the ground for peanuts. This helped me keep Aaron safe, or at least I felt it did. I do not tell many people this. In fact this is the first time I have ever mentioned it.

I was at a great talk by Deena Mandell last weekend and she did a study on the emotional effects of LTA's on the families. And so now I can say it: I'm nuts She found that the stress of this is huge and unrecognized and impacts the mother most of all. There is also a financial burden as the family makes changes to employment in order to keep their child safe. I will try to find where the paper is on the internet so we can all read it. It was such a relief!!! I'm just so typical of a mom with a kid with LTA's. For parents of kids with LTA it is normal to be what we are (anxious, perceived as over-protective, hysterical etc). It's the only way we can keep our kids safe. We have to find a stress level that is "just right" (Goldilocks theory), too much and we're putting unnessary restrictions on ourselves, but too little and our kids aren't safe.

It is a "must read". I am sorry I do not know how to make it so that you can just click on it and get there. You have to do it the hard way. It is worth it to do it the hard way to read this article!!!

This statement appeared in the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of Anaphylaxis Canada. I tried to find Nestle's statement on their website but couldn't find it. I couldn't find it elsewhere on the web either.

NESTLE RESPONDS TO RECALL NOTICE

"Following the one consumer complaint that resulted in a recall of a single batch of COFFEE CRISP SNACK SIZE BARS, we have conducted a thorough investigation. We conducted extensive testing on product made before, during and after the production of this batch and found no traces of any peanut protein in any of these tests.

At the same time, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has also conducted their own investigation and again, no traces of peanut protein were found in any of their follow-up tests. Similarly, the CFIA toured our nut-free production facility, reviewed our processes and found no issues of concern.

Since this one consumer complaint on a production run of over 600,000 bars, we have not received any other complaints and therefore consider this an isolated incident. At Nestle Canada we are confident in the rigorous processes we have in place to support our peanut-free promise for our snack size bars while this product is within our control."

I think Nestle is downplaying this. First of all, there is no follow up press release on their website (if anyone finds it, please let me know), which implies that they don't want to remind consumers of the incident. The other thing that bothers me is their statement "...the CFIA toured our nut-free production facility...". So is the facility only nut free or is it also peanut free? No mention of the facility being peanut free. And if their statement "nut free" meant to include peanuts, then it shows that they are not aware that peanuts are NOT nuts. Any organization that is allergy aware would know that peanuts are legumes and can't be lumped into the definition of tree nuts.

While I'm not so concerned about the wording of nut/peanut free (it should be clearer, but people often refer to peanuts as "nuts" so I don't think they are *meaning* to be cagey here) I agree that it seems like they are downplaying this. The lack of mention of this on the website is not a good sign. Plus when they say that their products are peanut-free "while [the] product is within [their] control" it sounds like maybe the chocolate bar got contaminated when not in their control? i.e. maybe the consumer contaminated it? Emphasizing that it was only *one* consumer complaint which prompted all these rigorous inspections makes it sound like the problem was with the consumer. The CFIA would not go to all the trouble of inspecting the site if the *consumer* contaminated the bars. And, obviously, since *sealed* bars were contaminated the problem was with Nestle! For *some* reason that isn't mentioned. There is *nothing* in the statement which would make people think that there was an actual problem in the first place.

It's not about being cagey... it's about ignorance. Nestle claims to be an allergy-aware company by producing peanut and nut free chocolate bars. The statement above was most likely written by an employee in the Communications department and approved by high level management. My point is that their employees should be better trained on what exactly these allergens are and use the correct wording and terminology in their communications. A nut free facility does not mean it is peanut free.

It clearly states that no peanut protein was found. That was tested for in other bars.

If there was a problem the CFIA would have stayed on top of it. I have spoken with them previously, about a different problem, but we did also discuss a bit about allergy alerts. The CFIA takes this very seriously, and they were involved from the beginning of the Nestle recall.

I don't see that Nestle is accusing the consumer of anything. Contamination can happen in a store. There have been times that I decided not to buy a product that was safe, because it was surrounded by peanut products and even though it's a sealed package I just wasn't comfortable with it. I also passed on a sealed package that felt sticky. That is out of the control of the manufacturer.

I also don't understand why you feel the manufacturer (Nestle) would want to drive away customers. They did a recall. They made a public statement about why. Now, they are releasing the results of the investigation.

If you are not comfortable with their product, then don't buy it. But, what about Chapmans? Quaker? and any other company that manufacturers food. Can you trust any of them?

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